Present day fiber placement systems for making composite parts use a stationary or rotating tool or workpiece with the dispensing head mounted on the end of a highly movable robot arm or other multi-axis manipulation system. U.S. Pat. No. 5,022,952 to Vaniglia shows a typical fiber placement system of this type. The robot arm or multi-axis system manipulates the dispensing head to apply the fiber to the tool in the desired pattern. In some systems, the tool may be mounted for rotation. The fiber is supplied from a creel that typically is fixed to the first axis of the manipulator, and the manipulation of the head by the robot arm requires that the fiber travel along a path that is continually changing in length and orientation. A modern fiber placement head typically moves through six degrees of freedom in delivering fiber to the part. This motion of the head results in stresses on the fiber which can cause it to break, and the mechanism used to guide and tension the fiber between the creel and the head is expensive and complex. The power, signal, and pneumatic lines that lead to the head also have to bend and move in response to the motion of the head. In order to accommodate this motion, the lines have to be designed with a certain amount of slack and free play along their length, and this increases the weight that has to be supported by the arm, slows down the motion of the arm and the head, reduces clearance between the layup system and the tool, and adds additional cost to the overall system.
The ability to quickly and automatically change out the dispensing head and/or the spools of fiber greatly improves the productivity of a fiber placement system. The currently available fiber placement systems which incorporate these features employ dockable, integrated head and creel assemblies which are attached to and move with the movable arm by means of commercial docking mechanisms, also referred to as tool changers. In addition to providing the mechanical load bearing support for the dispensing head, these docking mechanisms also have to provide automatic coupling and decoupling for all for the various electrical and pneumatic lines that lead to the head. In addition to the above mentioned issues associated with manipulating the required utilities through six degrees of freedom, this complexity further increases the potential for unreliability and adds even more cost to the system.